Meet Stephen Kallao, the new Contributing Host of the World Cafe. He joins Cafe Host Talia Schlanger and contributor David Dye, as the newest member of the WXPN programming team. As Contributing Host, Kallao (pronounced like the band’s name) will assist in producing the program’s radio and digital special features, as well as hosting shows, and conducting interviews.

Kallao is a Chicago native with 20-plus years’ experience in hosting, programming, writing, and production for commercial and noncommercial radio stations, including WYMS and WLUM in Milwaukee; KUFO and KNRK in Portland, OR; and 91X in San Diego. He received multiple Wisconsin Broadcasters Awards, including two for Best Radio Show, among others for Best Interview, Best Specialty Programming, and more. Recently, he was Director of Imaging, Radio Content for online music service Slacker Radio in San Diego.

We asked Stephen to share ten things about himself, so that we could get to know him a bit. Please welcome him to the World Cafe family.

1 – First concert, (w/parents) 1985, Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story Tour. This was when Rod was big into soccer and began the evening free kicking several balls 30 yards into the crowd. In retrospect, I can’t see anyone being able to do this at a show anymore.

2 – First concert (my choosing) 1993, KMFDM and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Chicago Metro. I remember at 14 gripping the wall, being overwhlemed by sweatiness and swaying bodies, pounding synths and distorted guitars. I immediately loved it.

3 – I attended seminary in High School. The higher calling was not for me, thus my transition to the school of rock ‘n roll.

4 – Because I fell in radio when I was 16. Quite literally spilling a fountain drink on a gentleman wearing an “Energy 88-7” t-shirt. Less than 24 hours later, I was an intern. A week later I was answering the request line (a phone number I had dialed often). A month later, I filled in on an overnight show, and never looked back.

5 – (Except for that time I worked in shipping.) After being downsized, I took a part time job in the warehouse of a graphic design company. There’s something really rewarding to look at a palette of boxes being taken away and know that however many dollars of electronic equipment were shipped because you boxed them up. It’s a tangible reward.

6 – You get that feeling in Public Radio, though. At my old home, Radio Milwaukee, there was a real pride helping to be a megaphone for the great non-profits we partnered with. It’s also really, REALLY gratifying to work for your listeners and not advertisers. It’s one of the many reasons I’m excited to be at WXPN and World Cafe.

7 – Favorite Interview – Vince Gill. I am not a country music enthusiast, but I do know Vince Gill might be the most remarkable artist I’ve ever met. He’s a true gentleman, caring and generous. He’s also arguably one of the greatest American guitarists, and has a wise unique perspective on the music industry. He’s a true legend.

8 – Worst Interview – You probably shouldn’t sit down with an enigmatic and reclusive frontman who’s known for making up outright falsities on the spot, while they pitch their boutique wine label and not their latest record (which still hasn’t come out, 8 years later). File under: some musical heroes will disappoint you by being jerks.

9 – My two favorite albums of this decade are 1. A lyrically dense reflective folk country record about addiction, soul searching and redemption (Field Report – Marigolden) and 2. An instrumental amalgamation of post rock and EDM that sounds like the end of the world (65daysofstatic – Wild Light). They couldn’t be sonically more different, but both bring me great joy in dramatically different ways.

10.5 – Misc: Born in Chicago. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder about everything. I hear this will serve me well. I play video games in my free time, and Destiny 2 has taken more of my time than I care to admit (PS4 gamertag: Givingupreality). My Instagram is filled with pictures of skylines, playing cards and cats. Speaking of which, I’m owned by two of them, and they wrote this profile.

In May of last year, Gord Downie announced that he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and that he was going on tour with his band. Courage. The Tragically Hip played its last show of that tour on August 20, 2016, in Kingston, Ontario. It was broadcast on television and online by CBC, and nearly 12 million people saw it. That’s about 1 out of every 3 Canadians. I was there in person and I’ll never ever forget it.

The feeling in the arena that night is hard to describe, but picture this: bundle every emotion your favorite band has ever made you feel over the course of decades, multiply it by mortality, add the sum of one-third of the entire country watching that with you, and you might have an idea.

Ten minutes before the concert began, the entire arena spontaneously broke out singing Canada’s national anthem. We passed a giant Canadian flag around, hand to hand; it was like watching the wave ripple across an arena, but in slow motion.

Gord Downie’s performance that night was absolutely magnetic. He was electric, he was funny, he danced, he wore shiny metallic suits and feather hats and a jaws t-shirt. There were somber moments, too, but mostly strength and charisma. After almost three hours, when it was done, live on national TV Gord embraced each of his bandmates — all dudes — and kissed each one of them on the lips.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was there, wearing a Tragically Hip T-shirt. Because that’s how important Gord and the guys were to Canada. And this week, on the day we got the news that Gord had died, Prime Minister Trudeau said, while choking back tears, “We are less as a country without Gord Downie in it.”

The Tragically Hip has been called Canada’s house band. But Gord Downie didn’t believe in blind patriotism; he believed in holding Canada and its leaders to account and challenging us all to be better. Gord used some of his last time on earth to shine a light on the hardships of Canada’s indigenous First Nations people. His latest album, 2016’s Secret Path, told the heartbreaking story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old First Nations boy who escaped a residential school and died while trying to return to the family he was taken from. His last album will come out in a couple weeks. It’s called Introduce Yerself. There are 23 songs and in Gord’s words, “Each song is about a person.” Gord was about people.

On a day like this, it’s difficult to put into words what Gord Downie means to me. But what will stand in my memory forever is the way he made the people around him want to be better, together. Gord united Canada’s most grizzled hockey fans and sensitive poets. He wasn’t afraid to go to the darkest parts of history, or sing of the smallest towns. He wasn’t afraid to play in front of millions of people when he was battling brain cancer. He was courage, personified, until his dying day. And I want to say how much I will miss knowing we share a planet with him.

After over three decades creating iconic, memorable music as one half of Indigo Girls, Emily Saliers has struck out on her own with debut solo album Murmuration Nation, out now. Saliers recently stopped by World Cafe to play a few songs from the record; you can stream her full performance and inspiring conversation with Talia Schlanger below via NPR Music, and watch the video of Saliers playing “Fly” right here in the XPN Performance Studio via VuHaus.

Saliers describes that the name Murmuration Nation comes from the naturalist term for a flock of starlings, and for the purpose of the album she sees it through a political lens, as a metaphor for social change in America following last year’s election. The 12-track record features Saliers’ warm and familiar voice in proud prominence, though the singer’s influences for the album range from the folk she’s known for to R&B, rap and hip-hop. Murmuration Nation also includes guest appearances by the likes of Lucy Wainwright Roche, Jonatha Brooke and Jennifer Nettles.

This Thursday, Emily Saliers returns to Philadelphia, this time for a full concert at World Cafe Live. Find tickets and more information on the show on the XPN Concert Calendar.

And In case the news of Saliers’ solo album had you worried, Indigo Girls are still alive and well. Other half of the duo Amy Ray has 6 solo records to her name. Indigo Girls played XPN Fest in 2015; revisit their set here.

]]>Get to know Slingshot, a new artist-championing collaboration backing Big Thief, Jamila Woods and Lo Moonhttp://thekey.xpn.org/2017/09/20/slingshot-big-thief-jamila-woods-lo-moon/
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Teased this spring at the annual NonCOMM-vention, the new programSlingshot is an artist-championing collaboration between NPR Music and 18 VuHaus member stations — including founding stations WXPN, WFUV, KCRW, KUTX and The Bridge.

Over the summer, programming staff from the member stations each nominated a handful of artists to throw their support behind over the coming year. The submissions were reviewed, and the stations came to a consensus — Big Thief, Jamila Woods and Lo Moon would be backed by Slingshot affiliates through interviews, editorial coverage, live performances and more over the next several months.

“Everybody in this room knows the impact of public radio on artist development,” XPN general manager Roger LaMay told the crowd at NonCOMM this spring. “It’s really been essential with NonCOMMs and public radio writ large to pool our resources and work together to grow our impact.”

Slingshot’s network of features can be anything from a World Cafe session to a Tiny Desk Concert to a spot on Morning Becomes Eclectic, and many artists already navigate their way through this path organically. But as NPR’s Anya Grundmann said at NonCOMM, “We thought it would be much more powerful if we packaged it…and made it about folks we collectively in public media believe in, and do it with the biggest muscle we have.”

Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief | photo by Scott Troyan for WXPN

ARTIST: Big Thief

CITY: Brooklyn, New York

WHAT THEY DO: The folk rooted indie rock project of songwriter Adrianne Lenker made its debut last year with the excellent Masterpiece LP; the band returned in quick order for this year’s fragile and introspective follow-up, Capacity. In the interim, they visited the Philly region relatively often, playing dates with Eleanor Friedberger, Frankie Cosmos and Strand of Oaks. They also recorded a live set for The Key Presents in local record store Brewerytown Beats.

Jamila Woods | photo by Koof Ibi Umoren for WXPN

ARTIST: Jamila Woods

CITY: Chicago, IL

WHAT THEY DO: First catching the ears of many through inviting vocal hooks on Chance the Rapper’s “Blessings” and “Sugar Candy,” this singer-songwriter made her debut last year with HEAVN, a genre-defying album that includes collaborations with many of her Windy City peers, from Noname to Saba to Donnie Trumpet. When Woods isn’t onstage or in the studio, she is the associate artistic director of the community nonprofit Young Chicago Authors.

Lo Moon | Photo by Emma Silverstone for WXPN

ARTIST: Lo Moon

CITY: Los Angeles, California

WHAT THEY DO: Though they only have a handful of songs to their name at present, the West Coast three-piece thinks big. Their songs are towering and expansive dreamscapes, reminiscent of mid-70s Pink Floyd as much as Elbow and Spiritualized. Building on the momentum of this spring’s buzzing single “Loveless,” they’re prepping a record for a 2018 release.

]]>Just Announced: NPR Music and World Cafe bring The National to Philly, performing entire new album LIVEhttp://thekey.xpn.org/2017/08/17/npr-music-world-cafe-the-national-union-transfer/
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The National | photo by Graham Macindoe | courtesy of the artist

Over the last two months, excitement for The National’s new album, Sleep Well Beast, has been building as they’ve released three singles and performed a handful of new songs in Paris during a live-streamed Pitchfork concert. Now, WXPN’s World Cafe and NPR Music have just announced a LIVE First Listen performance, happening three days before the album drops, from right here in Philly on September 5th!

Listen to the concert here, via VuHaus, at 8 p.m. EST on September 5th.

World Cafe host, Talia Schlanger, and Bob Boilen of NPR Music will co-host the show, being broadcast live from Union Transfer – and you can be there to experience it first hand! Tickets to attend are on sale now (UPDATE: the show is now sold out) or you can tune in on WXPN starting at 8 p.m. ET.

Till then, get ready to sing along to the three singles already released. Listen below.